2004 CAT 277 - Are these fixed rollers or are they suspension? Machine in good condition with 50% U/C and tracks is worth around what number? I'm new to the track world as you can tell.
wide tracks are big money , cat tracks add to that . roller and idlers are almost as much as the tracks . If the bottom end is on its first rebuild around say 800~1200 hours maybe you can do a cheap rebuild , if your close to 2000 hours its going to cost big money ! better part of 8~9K
The undercarriage is suspended. Go to Iron Planet and research it comparing machines in similiar condition. I am guessing that is a 12-14K machine at the most. Remember 50% undercarriage left could be 200 hours left on it or 600 hours all depends on how and where you run it. But when the butt kickin comes, its comin hard.
Outer srocket bearings,roller shaft bearings,all nothing but trouble with these models,also difficult to work on compared to a bobcat or other non-suspended u/c! IMO id stay away from the asv-cat skidder.
I completely agree with bobin. I would stay away from the ASV undercarriage, its nothing but trouble. Most of my customers have traded them in for something else.
I disagree with both Quicktrax and Bobin35. I guess I'm the odd man out. I do agree with some of what ksss said regarding how you run it. I have personally sold over 200 Bobcat CTLs and have many friends that sell other brand's CTLs and they will all owe you big time if you disregard the preventive maintenance and run them like they're stolen. I own an RC50 and it has been nearly flawless. It is true that it may not work for what others would want, but after selling against the ASV machines for years and seeing the myriad of applications, operator types, repair bills, etc. I ended up buying one and never looked back. I will tell you that the wear you experience will be different on a CAT MTL because it is a skid steer chassis bolted to ASV's undercarriage. There are a whole host of things that come as a result of this. I guess I'll just put this out there...if it was such a bad undercarriage with so many nightmares that some speak about...would they still be in business after 27 years?
I am not knocking the ASV machine. I am saying that the ASV Undercarraige is not holding up on the Cat machines. This is one of the reasons they are not putting it on the newer machines according to the Cat rep that I spoke with. I would not own one myself but I like working on them because they usually have a lot of repairs. They probably haven't used this undercarriage for 27 years and thats why they have been around this long. Thats just my .02 cents, Quicktrax
Don't worry, I wasn't offended. Everyone has their own perspective.:drinkup I agree with you 100% that the ASV undercarriage on CAT machines is an entirely different ballgame. CAT's 257 is an 8000lb machine and my RC50 is less than 6000lbs and they share the same undercarriage. When you stasrt to factor in the weight distribution and how tight CAT runs their tracks it is not hard to see why the ASV undercarriage doesn't last near as long as it does on an ASV machine that is built specifically for the undercarriage. My understanding of CAT's use of the ASV undercarriage is that they renewed the contract with ASV until 2012. I also agree with you about using the same undercarriage the whole 27 years. They have come quite far since the days I used to sell against them. All of their machines now use face seals and I see far longer track life on ASVs compared to the Bridgestone tracks on other CTLs. At least up in this neck of the woods.
I've seen pictures of the 277 and there is something mounted in front of the sprocket on top of the idler rollers, but it isn't on this machine. It has "C" type mounts (open is upward) that shows that something needs to be there, but is not. What's missing and why would it be disconnected? The item in question is just in front of the squirrel cage sprocket on top of the frame that holds the idlers. I hope I'm explaining this correctly!
They should come with a tensioner bolt that relieves tension on the squirrel cage. It mounts on the C type mounts. You loosen the tension by removing the bolts holding the squirrel cage to the frame and turn the tensioner. I have had a few machines come in without the tensioner. You might have one on one side and not the other. This is probably what you are missing.